The Chronicles of Aishiteru Academy, Book 1
by Gaara's Himitsu
Summary: Aishiteru Academy isn't exactly a normal school. So when teachers are teaching you subtle ways to flirt and one of the ways to graduate is to get married, what are Gaara, Haku, and Naruto going to do when people start to notice them?
1. Chapter 1

**The Chronicles of Aishiteru Academy**

**-Book 1, Chapter 1-**

Pairings: GaaraXNeji, HakuXZabuza, NarutoXSasuke

_Note: The only time in this story I'll admit I have no ownership of these characters…_

* * *

Gaara sighed as he and his friends stepped out of the moving van and onto the grey stones that paved the entire courtyard and most of the entryway of the dorm building. Today was the beginning of a new year for the students of Aishiteru Academy.

Today Gaara, Haku, and Naruto were moving into their new dorm room on the second floor of the tall castle like building. Naruto hadn't seemed worried about this at all, but then again, the redhead just assumed that was because Naruto had been in the academy for over six years and already knew everything there was to know about the school. Gaara had only been there for three, and he'd never had to change rooms until today.

He couldn't imagine how Haku must have felt. The poor boy was so gentle hearted almost anything scared him. And he'd only been there for the past year.

They were a year older now however, and age was taken very seriously in the academy. Especially the year you turned 18. Because that year, not only did you switch buildings and rooms to be with the older teenagers, but you were also admitted into the older kids' campus. Where only the people from 18 to 22 were allowed to go. Every kid that went to the academy dreamed of this.

You were given a decent uniform at 18.

You were considered adults and given special privileges.

You were treated like kings, given an education that far outstripped any other school

But most importantly, you were now allowed to graduate.

The last one was the key to being in Aishiteru Academy. The school itself was not your normal education system. These people were filthy rich and unless you were really gifted, you couldn't get in without the sums to pay for your million dollar house and yacht. The academy itself had been founded, maybe fifty years previous, by four rich snobs. Two men and two women, who were each very much irritated with society.

They wanted to be in control of where their money went, and who their children married. But as over powering as they were, even their children had consented to joining the academy. Because in this school you were given the best of everything. Food, clothes, education, and society.

Gaara hadn't listened to the rest of the history after that, it was too much praise and hardly any fact. He liked his version best because it was simple.

These four snobs had invented a dating service for other snobs with important names and shit loads of money. Because to Gaara, that's what the school was.

The main goal was to fall for someone who could benefit you and your family. Love didn't seem to matter much to these people. Even graduation was strange. Either you waited until you turned 22 and were kicked out of the school for being uninteresting and single, or you got married.

This was why Gaara was so nervous to be here. He was now available by school law. So were his friends.

The redhead liked that even less.

Naruto had been his first friend at school and as much as Gaara hated to admit it, the boy was rather hopeless. He was loud, his grades were less than adequate, and he was an airhead. Gaara couldn't stand to think that someone might want to take advantage of the boy and hurt him. But Naruto could at least stand up for himself, seeing as he was much stronger than either of his friends.

Haku however, was another matter entirely. Gaara felt like the boy's mother. Little Haku was one of the sweetest boys he'd ever met. But he was also shy, easily frightened, and trusted too easily. Not to mention the boy was little taller or stronger than a 12 year old girl. The boy was beautiful too to be sure. Long black hair and big brown eyes to go with his heart shaped face and cream colored skin. He was perfect for being used and most likely abused by undeserving men.

Gaara was a possessive bastard, meaning he'd kill anyone who tried to hurt his friends. So when he thought of poor little Haku, and slightly dense Naruto being left alone in a classroom with a bunch of dominant men, he shuddered. Promising blood shed.

What Gaara didn't realize though, was that his friends were just as worried for him as he was for them.

Gaara was a redhead, which Naruto knew was far more appealing to others than Haku's black hair, and Haku was convinced that Gaara's pouty lips, smug expression, and bright green eyes would attract far more attention than Naruto's loud mouth ever had.

They saw Gaara as beautiful and in trouble. The red head had no clue.

Bringing the last box up from the van, the three of them collapsed tiredly onto the couch in the small apartment like space they'd be sharing for the next few years, if they were lucky.

------------

When morning came again, Gaara turned off the alarm blaring in their joint bedroom. Today they were supposed to be starting school. Which meant that they were supposed to have new uniforms.

The redhead walked passed a still obliviously snoring Naruto, and stumbled into the kitchen where Haku was already awake and making breakfast for them.

"Good morning!"

The smaller boy called in his soft sweet voice.

"The new uniforms were delivered ten minutes ago. They're on the coffee table."

Gaara nodded and wandered past the kitchen into the living room. It wasn't hard to pick out the neat stack of black bags that had been laid out on the table. The only time Gaara had ever seen personalized bags like that was when he'd had to wash something for rich people and use some nice leather case for the suit so it wouldn't bend or wrinkle. Who knew he'd actually get one of his own.

Looking through the pile, Gaara pulled out the one in the middle that had his name engraved in gold at the top.

These people so went out of their way to spend money on frivolous things.

After grabbing Naruto's as well, he hurried passed Haku again into the bedroom, throwing the black bag on top of the blonde.

Walking over to the bed, he laid the uniform down and slowly unzipped the bag until he could see the entire thing laid out in front of him. It was not what he'd been expecting.

A pair of beige colored khaki's sat there harmlessly smirking up at him from beneath a crisp white button up and stiff white jacket. The jacket was slightly strange. The collar stood up straight and stiff so that everyone could see the bright gold pins you had to wear on them. And the zipper was tucked under a long gold flap. The cuff links were just as bright gold as the pins were. And the logo's on them were a mirror image of the ones embroidered onto the left breast of the each jacket.

The part Gaara didn't like, was the bow. It was big and had green and gold stripes going diagonally across it.

Usually girls had skirts and guys had pants, but in this school there was more too it.

Depending on your school status, you were given a bow to wear or a tie. Gaara had thought the girls had the bows at first and the guys had ties, but then he'd read the school hand book he'd been given.

Dress Code:

_All girls must wear skirts, blouses, and jackets while in class. All boys must wear pants, button ups, and jackets as well. All those in the Uke category, regardless of gender, will wear their bows on a daily basis. Those of the Seme category will do the same with their ties. All of these articles must be worn during classes, in the main buildings, and outside of the campus. Regardless, all those with hair that reaches the shoulders, must tie it back with a beige clasp or other school color coded tie. _

Gaara knew appearances were everything at this school. You had to be respectful for the teachers and for the people wandering around that you didn't know, but technically in your own rooms you could do whatever you wanted.

He sighed to himself and got dressed in time for Haku to call them for breakfast. At that word, Naruto woke up and headed out of the room, not quite awake enough to notice anything other than food.

Gaara followed him and found Haku setting the table, in much the same outfit he'd been wearing, only, the smaller boy had to wear his hair up because it was past his shoulders in length. He'd been given a white cloth and green tie to do so.

Gaara felt stupid wearing the uniform he'd been given. At least Haku looked cute with the bow resting underneath his chin in the opening of his jacket. Gaara just felt like a dolled up poodle.

Naruto on the other hand, just looked funny all together. His blue eyes clashed with the green on his bow, which looked a little funny paired with his broad shoulders. Gaara knew better than to say anything as they left the room and headed off to the main building with their beige school bags in hand.

------------

Haku was frightened when they walked into the school. He could see seas of people flowing through the hallways as if they were ballerinas and had all the grace in the world. It made him feel overly conscious of Naruto's swagger and heavy steps, like they might draw attention to him.

It was bad enough having to wear the bow on around his neck in plain sight.

It made him twitch with nervousness every time they passed someone wearing a tie, which seemed to be almost everyone. The brightly glittering pins on the collar of his jacket didn't help either.

School Status:

_Every student will have a pin marking the year they are in. A I will be given to those in their first year in the upper academy and so on. I,II, III, IV, VI. Each one will also mark how old the student is. VI will be given to the people who will be turning 22 that year and so on. _

_The second pin given to each student will mark their status or rank, among the other students. A FS will be given to those Females in the Seme category. As a MKe will be given to those Males in the Uke category. FS, MS, FKe, MKe. _

_These pins must be worn at all times so that you can be identified easily by teachers as well as other students. _

Haku had been nervous the moment he read that. He, Gaara, and Naruto all had I's and MKe's. They were like beacons screaming "I'm young and stupid, come rape me!"

The smaller boy stuck close to his friends for the beginning part of the day, until classes started and they were placed into homeroom with a bunch of other students with the exact same pins.

He didn't feel so alone after that.

------------

When lunch time rolled around, Gaara felt better about being here. Their homeroom teacher, Iruka-sensei, was really nice. Someone you could easily talk to, which was promoted by the school hand book.

Haku seemed happier too. Even Naruto had found someone in their class who was taller and larger than he was for an Uke. So when the three of them had gotten their food, all of which looked delicious where from where they had been laid out in rows like any fancy banquet, they wandered over to an unoccupied table in the back corner of the room that looked out over the nicely manicured lawns.

A lonely looking second year girl joined their table half way through the meal and instantly began talking to them.

Gaara didn't mind. She was only a year older than they were, but that also meant she knew a lot more, all of which, she was happily telling them.

At some point during the hour break, She'd begun pointing toward people of interest to the school.

"The older girls here can be really nasty so be careful. Especially those four. Ino, Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata."

Ino was the first to be pointed out. She was a tall girl, with long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes much like Naruto's. She didn't look nice at all. Her smug arrogant expression and her harsh voice were easily noticed from the opposite end of the room. Her tie was even proudly displayed on her chest, as if being Seme made her better than everyone else.

Sakura was the second girl. She wasn't tall, but her presence and loud pink hair made up for that. It was obvious she was the queen in this school, with Ino being her right hand, and the other two being her ladies in waiting. Her face was much kinder, but Gaara could easily spot the tick between her eyes, like a crack in her perfectly sculpted mask of kindness. The way she flirted with that one guy made her seem like a whore in his mind, the way she practically sat in his lap to get his attention. The tick between her eyebrows probably came from the lack of attention he was giving her.

The last two were Tenten, a brown headed girl with brown eyes, which made her look ordinary and easy going, if not slightly brain dead. And Hinata, dark haired girl with white eyes that Gaara already knew to be of Hyuuga decent. She seemed the nicest of all of them. Which probably meant she was the smartest and by far the best at making people feel worthless.

The Hyuugas were a very well known family that almost technological company, next to the Uchihas.

"Oh, and those three!"

The girl pointed to three boys in the midst of the crowd of girls lead by the previous four.

"Aren't they dreamy! Everyone dreams of being with them, but you'd have to be inhuman to catch their interest, honestly. They have such pretty girls and boys all over them and yet, they wouldn't give them the time of day. Sasuke, Neji, and Zabuza."

The girl pointed to each one, as if she was trying to stab each of them with her finger.

Sasuke had been the one Gaara noticed earlier. The one that, as stated, had little interest in the pink lollipop sticking to his pants. He had dark hair and eyes, was tall, and menacingly cool, which was probably why the girls loved him. The redhead was more interested in Neji however. The boy seemed like less of a scumbag, and at least had a painted smile on his face, like he could lie easily with it. His hair was long, like every Hyuuga Gaara had ever seen, and his eyes were a milky white with a hint of lavender that made them seem softer.

Hyuugas were dangerous. There was no other explanation. They all looked so nice and inviting.

The last made Gaara move just a little closer to Naruto.

Zabuza was tall broad, and had muscles that looked like they would rip the sleeves of his shirt if he flexed. Gaara was afraid to look at him too long. He looked like he'd been in an accident recently, because his arms and half of his face were wrapped in bandages. His eyes were grey and looked like they'd been taken from a wolf before he'd skinned it.

How girls couldn't see passed the muscle was a mystery to Gaara.

Soon the bell rang and they were sent back to class, the redhead was so relieved, happy not to have to think about the 'creepy' three any longer, that he was one of the first to class.

* * *

Here's my new story... The Chronicles of Aishiteru Academy!

Hope you enjoy it... it's just the beginning so there is a lot of information to pack in....

Thanks for reading... let me know what you think...


	2. Chapter 2

**The Chronicles of Aishiteru Academy**

**-Book 1, Chapter 2-**

Pairings: GaaraXNeji, NarutoXSasuke, HakuXZabuza

_Note: There will be occassional character bashing throughout the story._

* * *

Haku wasn't sure how to feel when he woke up the next morning and started to get dressed. Yesterday had been the first day of classes, which pretty much turned out to be going over their schedules in homeroom and discussing random school events that were soon coming up on the calendar.

What worried the small raven, was that today classes actually started. For real started. Today all their classes were pretty much joint classes with the third years, and that thought alone made Haku's stomach twist into uncomfortable knots.

Exhaling and trying to calm himself down, he walked out of the bathroom where he'd been putting his hair up, and started to work on breakfast, hearing the alarm clock in the bedroom go off as he was pulling eggs out of the refrigerator. Gaara and Naruto didn't seem to care about the joint classes they had, and Haku envied them for that. He wished he wasn't such a worry wart all the time, but fixing it seemed impossible. So he'd just have to deal and smile like nothing was wrong.

He was used to doing that, he never liked worrying his friends and so, had gotten used to just not telling them when he was nervous.

Turning off the stove, Haku pushed the scrambled eggs onto three separate plates, along with slices of cantaloupe, ham, and toast before carrying them over to the table to serve. And as he set each plate down, the other boy's made their appearances. Gaara sitting in his seat, looking dressed, but cranky, like he hadn't slept much, and Naruto who was far from dressed and looked like he might fall asleep where he collapsed at the table if it weren't for the food.

This was one of Haku's favorite parts everyday. It was his personal time to think and giggle at his friends when they weren't coherent enough to realize it.

------------

When they entered class, Iruka-sensei began filling them in on the class schedule for the day. It seemed like an easy enough day, or it would have, had Haku been anyone else.

Gym, Science, Lunch, Art, Music, a thirty minute break, and Elective classes.

Gym. Haku was horrible at it, his moves were uncoordinated and he often hurt himself.

Science. Haku was far from smart enough to be in Gaara's level, so he'd most likely be in the general class with Naruto. Then of course, there was the formula thing. They tended to go in one ear and out the other.

Art. Also known as Drama classes for the 1st and 3rd years, being shy was usually not a good thing in this class.

Music. Something Haku actually enjoyed, when he wasn't competing for a seat.

Over all, Haku was starting to get nervous again as the teacher led them to the gym locker rooms to change into uniform sweats. Something Haku had gaped at when he'd first seen them. Those in the Seme class were allowed emerald green pants that had gold stripes down the sides. While those who were like him, had mini shorts in the same color with the same stripes. Naruto had been pissed about it. He really shouldn't have been made an Uke in Haku's opinion, but then again, Naruto was there for a reason. Whatever it was, Haku had yet to figure it out.

Changing quickly, Haku followed everyone out and moved to stand in line with all the other boys.

It seemed strange seeing just how different the statuses were treated. All the girls were lined up, Seme's first in their pants, and then Uke's in their shorts, all of them wearing tank tops, compared to all the t-shirts the guys were meant to wear.

"Hey."

Haku was startled out of his thoughts when roll was finally called and the statuses split up to do bi-yearly fitness tests. Haku was happy that that was all they were doing today.

However, when a dark haired boy slid up to sit next to him on the light wooden floor of the gym, his small amount of happiness faded.

"I'm Sai."

"Hi."

Haku squeaked, his voice coming out quieter than usual. The boy frightened him a little, with his dead black eyes, and inhumanly pale skin.

"You're Haku right?"

The small brunette nodded, moving further from the boy when his space was invaded.

"You have great legs."

Haku stared blankly at the boy who was sitting right next to him again, making their hips touch. How could someone possibly say that with such a straight and expressionless face, and why would they?

Blushing, Haku slid closer to Naruto, who was sitting next to him, looking bored. He didn't like this guy much at all and the fact that Sai kept sliding closer and leaning over so Haku was nearly bent backwards, wasn't helping things. He felt rather stuck.

"Mind if I feel them?"

It wasn't a question as far as Haku could tell. And obviously, he wasn't meant to answer either. Sai ran his hand up one of the raven's legs and rested it on the boy's thigh before Haku really had time to shove his hand off. Not that he was able to, as Sai had a pretty firm grip on him.

How in the world, no one else seemed to notice this, was beyond Haku's understanding. But it only seemed to get worse when the boy's hand slid backwards to squeeze Haku's ass instead. This was more than he could take, but he was too frightened to do anything other then try to squirm away from Sai. Naruto seemed to notice when Haku suddenly had a death grip on his arm, and when he did, he was on his feet in seconds, dragging Sai by the collar of his shirt until he was no longer near Haku at all.

The smaller boy didn't notice the fight that ensued after that, he merely tried to keep from crying as the teachers and aides tried to pull the two apart.

By the time Haku had regained his composure. Sai was being escorted out sporting a few bruises on his face and a swollen lip. Naruto had been placed back in line, having come off without getting in trouble.

"This isn't the first time."

Haku looked around, realizing for the first time that he too, was being led into another room, this one being the teacher's office.

"Are you alright?"

Nodding hesitantly, Haku looked up at the person he was talking to. The action though, caused the poor boy to freeze when he realized who it was. Momochi Zabuza was sitting across from him in the coach's chair with his arms folded in front of him.

Haku remembered the day before when he'd first seen the man. He'd been scared of him. He was huge in Haku's opinion. Standing, the top of his head reached barely mid chest on the other man, and Zabuza was easily twice as wide. The third year had been announced as an aide earlier that class, much to Haku's surprise at the time.

"When your feeling up to it, you can go back out and join your friends."

Haku nodded numbly and waited for the man to get up before he pulled his knees up to his chest and clung to them, relief flooding through him when the door finally closed behind Zabuza.

Haku had only been in school for one day, and already he'd met Zabuza, the scary one of 'The Three', all of whom he'd hoped he'd never have to talk to, was harassed by a zombie kid, and now tears were even dripping down his cheeks which he hadn't noticed until now. The rest of the day didn't look all too promising.

------------

Gaara was not happy, when gym class finally ended. He'd wanted nothing more than to make sure Haku was okay. After what Naruto had said happened, Gaara wanted to run the bastard through with a chainsaw. However, chainsaw's were scarce on campus and Haku hadn't come out of the office for the rest of class.

So, angry as he was, Gaara stomped his way to science. People moving out of his way wherever he stepped.

That morning, when everyone was checking their normal class lists, Gaara had come across something rather odd. He didn't have math, science, or reading and writing with any of the others in his class. Iruka-sensei had said something about Gaara being an above average student in those areas, so he'd been moved to the special classes. Seeing as the redhead was only in Aishiteru Academy because of a scholarship for math and science, he didn't see a reason to complain.

However, upon reaching the class and seeing it was mostly third and fourth years, he wasn't so sure. Only two other kids in the entire class were second years, meaning he was the only first year.

Sighing in irritation, Gaara sat down next to no one in particular, and listened as the class started and the teacher went over the curriculum. There were going to cover things like, genetics, anatomy, animal behavior, chemical compounds and other things Gaara was rather excited about. Then of course, the teacher split them up into pairs and assigned lab benches. Where Gaara soon found out, he'd be sitting the entire rest of the year.

It didn't mean much to the redhead at first, but when he got his partner, that opinion changed.

Neji Hyuuga moved to sit down next to him as their names were called.

"Why am I with him?"

Gaara interrupted even before the Hyuuga had had time to reach the stool next to him. The last thing the redhead wanted was to sit next to a Hyuuga and have to work with him. He couldn't stand anyone in that family. Not that he'd met any, but he'd seen enough to know he didn't like them.

"You sit with him, Mr. Sabaku, because he's the best in the class and you know nothing about it. He will teach you and then maybe we won't have to worry about you falling behind."

The teacher snapped, clearly not happy about something that had happened before class.

This didn't make Gaara any more at ease. Now the teacher just admitted she thought he was stupid and too young to be there. Neither of which was true.

Crossing his arms, the redhead pouted and glared hotly at the lab desk beneath him.

"I won't bite, you know."

A soft, resonating voice stated beside him. Hyuuga.

"I'd prefer that were the reason I hated you."

Gaara snarled, keeping his eyes down.

"What have I done to make you hate me? That's quite unfair."

"You are a Hyuuga. I need no other reason."

Neji looked at him with a small frown on his lips, but said nothing, looking just a little hurt. Which Gaara felt slightly happy about.

------------

Naruto was more than a little bored when lunch time finally rolled around. Science had been a big smear of numbers and letters in front of his eyes all his life. So blocking it out was the natural reaction to that.

However when lunch finally came, the blonde practically ran over people to get out of the class, pulling an unnervingly quiet Haku behind him.

Saying something about not being hungry, Haku left him alone in line to go sit at the table in the corner that they'd claimed the previous day. Naruto didn't really think much of it and was quickly distracted by the arrays of food in front of him. All of which, he started to pile on his plate. Not bothering to use any sort of manners as he hastily picked things up and organized them on his tray.

"Oh my, dobe. Does your mother not feed you?"

Naruto turned to look at the person behind him with a slightly confused expression.

"Or is it, perhaps, that you feel she doesn't feed you enough. You are a rather big boy."

The blonde glared, finally realizing what the boy was trying to get at.

"Are you calling me fat?"

The boy smiled, showing a row of perfectly straight teeth.

"Well, your not half as dense as you look it seems."

"Teme!"

Naruto yelled, barely setting his tray down on the counter before lunging at the other boy. Who the blonde noticed, seemed to be enjoying the attention.

"Not Teme, Uchiha Sasuke."

The raven said smugly, ducking under Naruto's fist, only to end up tangled with the rest of the boy as they struggled against each other. The blonde could vaguely hear girls yelling for the other boy to cream him. But neither of them got much farther than that before Gaara somehow appeared between them.

Sometimes, Gaara was a pain, Naruto could take care of himself. The redhead didn't seem to realize that the blonde still had this thing called pride.

"Two fights in one day is bad for your health."

The redhead muttered as he dragged the blonde back to their table, glaring at everyone they passed who dared to even make eye contact.

"The last thing we need is 'The Three' coming after us because you messed up the Uchiha's pretty face."

"It'd be worth it though."

Naruto watched the small smirk cross Gaara's lips before he went back to glaring.

"True."

------------

Zabuza sighed as class ended. He, Neji, and Sasuke were all walking back to their dorm together, but for some reason, today's conversation lacked in the bite it usually had. Normally, Sasuke would go off on some poor student and say nasty things about them, to which Neji would laugh. Zabuza never really had a part in these conversations, but he knew his friends really didn't mind too much. He was just a listener, gossip and rumors were beneath his concern.

Today however, the three merely collapsed on the plush sofas in their large suite in silence, Sasuke being the first to speak after a few minutes.

"I fought with a blonde today. At lunch, I don't remember ever being quite so rude as I was to him."

Neji was the next.

"If it makes you feel better, the redhead, the one that broke up your little fight, hates me for something I have no control over. I barely meet him in science class and he says he hates me because I'm a Hyuuga."

"Your kidding?"

"No, he made a fuss about me even sitting next to him. I hadn't even spoken to him. Am I a mean guy? Do I look like a horrible person?"

"No."

Zabuza stated bluntly, the two going quiet again. He wasn't the one known for his brilliancy, but he could definitely see that there were certain reasons for all this. If anything it just made him even more curious to find out who these new boys were. Zabuza could have cared less about the blonde and the redhead, but the small raven boy he'd seen crying during gym class was another matter entirely. He wanted to know more about that boy in particular, and in turn, maybe they'd all learn something.

"We could check their records. See if they have a history that might add some clues."

Zabuza suggested, both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha giving him suspicious looks. It wasn't often that the tall, intimidating man gave his opinion.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

Sasuke said, pulling his laptop open, from where it sat on the coffee table between all the arm chairs and couches occupying the living room.

Zabuza and Neji moved over so they could get a better look at the screen, as Sasuke's frantic typing filled the room with soft clicking sounds. When information finally began to fill the screen though, the three of them were rather surprised by what they read.

"The blonde, Uzumaki Naruto, was admitted into the academy six years ago, on a sports scholarship. He just showed up out of no where at one of the local orphanages without records of either parent ever being found, with no other family. He was never cited for behavioral problems until three years later when he was caught fighting off a couple bullies in Junior Academy."

"When the redhead was admitted to the academy on a science and math scholarship."

Neji read, continuing where Sasuke had left off.

"Sabaku no Gaara, was admitted to the same orphanage with his brother and sister the year before he was admitted. The oldest sister, Temari, ended up disappearing without a trace and was never found again, and after that, the older brother Kankuro, was sentenced to prison for drug dealing and murder, by Hiashi Hyuuga. The young heir to the Hyuuga company, Neji Hyuuga, later convicted Gaara of being his brother's accomplice in the murder of their late father."

"I sentenced him to parole for three years. I didn't realize it was the same kid. No wonder he hates me. I had absolutely no cause to make that decision, but because that was my first case, I wanted to make a good impression on my uncle. I'd said that evidence showed he was at the crime scene with his brother when the father died, but there wasn't enough to put him behind bars. In truth, the man was so old he'd had a heart attack and we'd taken it out on his kids. He was a nasty politician when he was alive and to make ourselves look good, we locked away the innocent ones for public approval."

"No wonder he dislikes you so much."

Sasuke smirked, watching Neji slump back against the couch, looking upset.

"There's more."

Zabuza stated. Reading over the rest of the report Sasuke had dug up out of the school's private files.

"Just last year, the final member of the trio of orphans was admitted into the academy. Haku, a boy who's last name was never discovered, was admitted in on a scholarship for arts of some kind. No one knows anything about his family, just that he has no last name, and no records of any kind. They don't even have a record of any birth certificate being made for him."

Zabuza frowned.

"So basically, the three are gifted orphans with hardly any history, which most likely added to the appeal of the school. Said academy took pity on them and admitted them in on vague scholarships that even we didn't know existed."

Sasuke said blankly, trying to process everything.

Zabuza watched as both his friends fell back into an uncomfortable silence, all of them trying to take in the new information, they weren't sure they actually wanted to know. The only thing the youngest Momochi had learned from all this, was that the tiny raven he'd met earlier today, was even more of a mystery than before. But one thing was absolutely certain.

They were orphans, with no connections, and absolutely no hope for anything better. Zabuza knew that in this school. When you had nothing, you were nothing. He didn't like it, but that wasn't going to change the way the school worked. When you had no connections, people in this school only wanted you as a trophy to make them look more charitable, or they didn't want to go near you because it could be the cause of disappointment within families when you were seen with them. The only hope they had was if someone decided to marry them, which would make them a part of an actual family, a place in society, no matter how small. This school thrived on things like that. The academy probably thought it was being charitable by giving these boys a better chance in life.

Zabuza didn't really care though. To him, Haku was worth any risk an association might have caused. He had to admit, he rather liked the small raven.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this newest chapter of Aishiteru Academy!

Keep in mind that Zabuza, Neji, and Sasuke are snotty rich kids... they aren't going to be knights in shining armor without a little work...

Anyway... hope you liked it!


	3. Chapter 3

**The Chronicles of Aishiteru Academy**

**-Book 1, Chapter 3-**

Pairings: GaaraXNeji, NarutoXSasuke, HakuXZabuza

Gaara felt overly excited about today as he started packing his notebooks into his bag at the end of morning homeroom. Today the first years and third years were able to participate in 'free classes'.

It'd taken forever for the redhead to figure out what having free classes meant. But when he'd gotten to the section in his hand book on 'clubs', he'd understood.

Clubs

_These are activities done late after school, on vacation days, or whenever you have free time. Clubs are not a mandatory part of the school curriculum, however many students feel the need to express themselves and this is the best way to do so. Also, if students have been given free periods in your schedule, it's common for them to pick classes that will give them extra work experience, or extra club experience and training. _

_At the end of the year, all students will be required to enter an event for the summer showcase. If you are part of a club, an activity will be planned for everyone to participate in if they so choose. _

Gaara wasn't sure he'd be joining any clubs, he and his friends had to work almost every day they were given free time, but that didn't mean he wasn't excited to have a few play classes. Haku and Naruto had been just as excited as he was when they found out which classes they'd been assigned for the day.

"That's the end of our meeting this morning everyone! Don't leave until the bell rings. Oh, and if there are any of you who'd like to sign up for volunteer work or need to sign up for work time, make sure you talk to me before tomorrow."

Gaara snapped himself out of his thoughts and looked up to where Iruka-sensei was addressing the rest of the class. He didn't have much time to do anything else before Naruto was dragging he and little Haku up to the front. No one else seemed to be in any hurry to sign up.

"We want to do that thing you mentioned!"

"Sign-up you mean?"

"Yeah that!"

And Gaara thought he'd been the one zoning out. Naruto didn't seem to realize just how funny he sounded right then, but Iruka-sensei obviously wasn't going to mention it.

"Alright, so which program would you like to sign-up for?"

"Both!"

"Let's see then. I'm going to need you to pick which volunteer program you want to help with. And if you really want to sign up for work time, I'm going to need a reason. You can't join unless your parents sign that they need you for their personal family business training, or your in need of the extra income."

Naruto kept his mouth shut then and actually looked at he and Haku for help. Sighing, Gaara stepped forward and lowered his voice to barely above a whisper, not meeting the teacher's eyes.

"We're the St. Griffith orphans. We were admitted on scholarships and have absolutely no income other than what we earn at our jobs. Is that good enough?"

"Of course."

Gaara was thrown off by the small smile that spread over Iruka's face as the man started filling out papers for them and asking them to sign a bunch of different sheets of paper.

"You guys are well known by the staff here. It's nice to know this school is letting talented students have a chance. St. Griffith's is full of students in need, I'm happy to meet others like me from there. I hope people aren't too mean to you here?"

"Not at all. We haven't told anyone, so if they treat us poorly, it's as normal students."

"That's probably for the best."

Gaara nodded and watched as Iruka stapled their applications together and pulled out a new sign up sheet.

"I'll submit the work sign-ups for you this afternoon. Take a look at the volunteer programs on that sheet and sign your name under the one you want to join. If you have any questions as to what some of them are, let me know."

Gaara picked up the clipboard and held it so Naruto and Haku could read it over his shoulders.

Volunteer Program List: 

_Uptown Soup Kitchen_

_Animal Rehab and Adoption Center_

_Senior Citizen Center_

_Griffith Orphan House_

_Community Service_

Neji's eyes widened when he held the clipboard up for his friends to read. The second to last program caught his eye and he pointed to it, looking back at Sasuke, who smirked in agreement and Zabuza who nodded thoughtfully.

The three of them signed their names and handed the clip board back to Kakashi, their homeroom teacher, before leaving for their first set of classes.

Haku was so excited when he walked into his new cooking class, that he hardly noticed who else was there. A few of the boys from his class called him over to join them and be part of their lab group and he joined them without much thought.

"Good morning. My name is Kurenai-sensei and I'm going to be your cooking instructor for the year. We need everyone to get into groups of four and once you're ready, go ahead and pick a kitchen. I want to get all of you started on your cookies as soon as possible."

Haku smiled and followed his friends back to the kitchen in the far corner, closest to the door.

"Everyone pick your favorite recipe as a group and get to work. I'll be around to help you if you need it."

For the rest of class Haku happily worked on a batch of white chocolate chip sugar cookies, oblivious to the two sets of eyes glaring at him from across the room, one set of green the other as white as snow.

Gaara was in his first choir class of the year, and once again, he was the only first year boy in the class. The only other two boys there, being second years. The redhead could have cared less though, because he really didn't have many friends in his homeroom class anyway.

Everyone else there, was of the female variety, and of them, the majority were wearing bows and short skirts. Gaara had easily noticed how out of place he was when he walked in, which meant he and the other two boys were sitting practically glued to each other in the front of the class. Glaring girls was not something Gaara was used to. But there they were, girls glaring daggers at him for polluting their special singing class.

As Anko-sensei went over the class placing them in groups of alto, soprano, base and tenor, Gaara did a lot of smug glaring back at the princesses who thought they were better than him. There just had to be that one girl though who met his eyes right back. Ino.

He was really starting to wish he knew nothing about this girl, then he might not have given her a second glance, or scowl.

By the end of class though, they'd had a whole glaring conversation about how much she hated him, and about the fact that he didn't give a shit. Gaara was determined though, not to let this get in his way of singing. It was his all time favorite hobby, and she so was not getting in his way. Of course when he realized how often the teacher was glaring at him too, he began to realize why he hated women.

That and, when he finally left the class, he remembered just how long these things could hold a grudge and he disliked them all the more.

The Ino-bitch and her hatred.

And Anko-sensei with her grudge against him for the last time he got angry with her in science.

If he was going to have to work extra hard to prove he was better then they assumed he was at singing, and everything else. So be it. He would figuratively kick their asses.

Naruto was surprised when he finally hit the locker rooms to change. He'd never worked out so hard in his life and it felt great. Asuma-sensei had paired him up with that one really big popular guy, and really, the guy was incredible.

"Wow, your good!"

"Thank you. You were very good too."

"Really!? Awesome!"

Naruto exclaimed, buttoning up the front of his shirt and refastening his bow around his neck.

Today seemed to hold many more surprises for him though. Because right as he'd finally got his jacket on and his shirt tucked in, Haku wandered in with a paper plate full of cookies, looking embarrassed and just a little lost.

"Um, what are you doing here Haku?"

"I made cookies."

"I see that, but why not wait to give them to me until after class? You know we always meet up in between classes."

"Oh… um… well because… these aren't for you, Naruto."

"WHAT!? Why not? I want cookies!"

"I saved you some, don't worry. But these are for someone else."

Haku left Naruto standing there with his mouth open in shock, while he kept searching for the person he hoped would be there. He really had nothing to go on, but he hoped that the boy would be here. Giving up, Haku started to leave as the door to the coaches office opened and the exact person he'd been looking for, walked out with the teacher.

"Um. Excuse me."

Zabuza stopped in mid step, confused and surprised to see anyone walking up to him, let alone Haku, this tiny Uke boy with a fragile heart and spirit.

"I wanted to give these to you. I hope you like them."

Zabuza watched, stunned, as the tiny boy placed a plate of warm cookies in his hand and ran from the room. It took him a few minutes before he noticed the shocked silence from the rest of the boys in the locker room, and the slight snickers coming from Asuma-sensei as he watched everything happen.

"Class is almost over, stop gawking and change!"

Zabuza snapped, leaving the room to go meet up with his friends before class.

Haku darted back inside of his cooking class, panting from how hard he'd been running down the halls.

"So, did he like them?"

Haku blushed as Kurenai-sensei beckoned him to come sit on the desk next to her. Class hadn't exactly ended yet, so everyone was still eating and talking, leaving them alone to talk.

"I don't know. He just looked surprised."

"It's no wonder. No one really talks to the boy without being asked to. If I had to guess though, I'm betting he's rather touched by your kindness. You'll have him wrapped around your finger by the end of the year, I have no doubt."

"But... t-that's not why I… um…"

"Uh-huh. You just keep telling yourself that cutie."

Haku didn't know how to reply and just blushed the rest of class, gathering up his things and leaving quickly when the bell rang.

"Come on Zab, why won't you share with me? We always share, and those look really good!"

"They are."

"Why are you so mean!"

"The answer is still no, Sasuke."

Sasuke pouted and crossed his arms. He'd been trying ever since Zabuza had shown up to their usual meeting place, to get some of the cookies the boy was eating. Usually, if the guy had something, he shared it with he and Neji without them even having to ask. The Uchiha didn't get it. So when Neji smacked his arm to get his attention and pointed near the door, he was confused.

"Your taking this too personally Naruto."

"Whatever Gaara! You don't get it!"

"Haku made cookies, and didn't give you any, what's not to get?"

"The part where he didn't give me any! He gave them to that big guy instead! You know the kind of creepy one with all the bandages. I mean he's a cool guy, kind of quiet, but he got cookies and not me! Why?!"

Sasuke smirked, having heard the none too quiet blonde, going off on his smaller friend. He knew what Neji was getting at now.

The two of them gave themselves knowing looks as they started watching Zabuza again, secretly watching to see if he'd react. He and Neji almost burst into shocked laughter too, when Zabuza did indeed react, smiling lightly when the small raven haired boy entered with his friends.

"So that's why he won't share. Those were a present from the pretty little raven."

Sasuke whispered to Neji, as the boy nodded in agreement.

"I'm thinking he's got a little crush he's not telling us about."

"I think your right."

The two of them continued quietly laughing. Their teacher having already started talking about the class.

"Okay everyone. Now that we've explained what this class is, everyone pair up with someone not in your year. We're going to start learning dance steps. Remember, if you suck, dance with someone else who sucks. Ow!"

The class laughed and started pairing up as Iruka-sensei slapped Kakashi for being crude. Not only did the classes have to learn together, the teachers had to teach together in classes like these.

Sasuke disappeared, practically running to the other side of the room to grab the annoying blonde that Neji had always assumed he didn't like. And of course, then came the name calling and cursing between the two as the blonde was dragged to the less packed part of the room.

However when Neji looked away from the not so happy couple, he realized he was alone. Zabuza had gone off too.

Zabuza made his way across the room nervously watching the floor and ignoring the curious eyes that followed him. But somehow he managed to walk straight to the boy he'd been hoping to talk to.

"Um, Could I ask you-"

Zabuza froze after that, looking up to meet the deep brown eyes of the young boy he'd been wanting to dance with.

"To dance?"

Looking up, surprised, the tall boy nodded. Not expecting Haku to be smiling like he was.

"I'd be happy to."

Zabuza let a smile slip over his face for a brief moment before offering his hand to the boy and leading him to an open spot on the floor, both of them blushing furiously.

Gaara on the other hand, had never seen Haku do anything like that, and even though he was really worried about the boy, he was also proud. The younger boy had never done anything so brave as to continue a sentence like that, let alone agree to such a proposal. What confused Gaara even more, was that Zabuza had been the nervous one. Like they'd switched places or something.

That left Gaara without a partner though.

"Is everyone paired up?"

The silver haired teacher asked. Gaara raised his hand and groaned, watching as only one other hand was raised on the other side of the gym.

"Awesome! Hyuuga, your with the redhead, get moving."

Gaara blanched and almost complained, but decided that he didn't really want more of the teacher mad at him, so stayed quiet.

"I'm sorry, I know you don't want to dance with me."

"You are so right!"

Gaara said angrily, getting into position anyway, unconsciously starting to dance along with the rest of the class.

"I know who you are Gaara."

"What a shocker! I figured you'd just forgotten the one you condemned. Now shut up and dance with me. I'm not going to look like a fool because of you."

That made the Hyuuga go quiet and they did, indeed, dance. After awhile, it became a game, they each tried to out do the other while still being partners, which meant that they pretty much forgot to be amateurs and started into a rather complex tango to ballroom music. It didn't match, but they hardly noticed. Gaara was trying to keep glaring at the other boy, and Neji was just trying to not out rightly look like he was enjoying himself.

"Alright. That's enough for today!"

Kakashi called, watching as his favorite pair of dancers froze and the redhead practically pushed the Hyuuga away from him. Not many in the class had actually been watching, most of them intent on trying to get the steps right. But a few of them were still staring in awe.

"You have any Tango or Polka music you could bring next time?"

The silver haired man asked quietly, turning to watch the cute little Mke teacher nod, his brunette ponytail bobbing slightly as he did.

"They make a good pair of dancers."

"Yes they do."

Kakashi agreed, smirking as he watched the Hyuuga look back over his shoulder at the angry redhead. They made a good pair for more than just dancing.

When the day was finally over, Gaara collapsed into his seat in homeroom tiredly. He hadn't thought the Hyuuga would be able to dance like that, and he'd been thinking about it ever since that class had ended before lunch. Neji pissed him off.

At some point in his inner thinking, Haku, Naruto and the rest of the class had sat in their seats in the circle they usually performed homeroom in. This was their last class every other day. Everyone liked this class because Iruka would let them go home early on certain days, or they'd just stay and talk about nothing as a class. Today however, Iruka actually brought something up first.

"I just wanted to remind all of you that one of the school's traditional holidays is coming up. Did any of you read up on Ukeshu in your hand books?"

No one had.

"It's coming up really soon and I want you guys to be ready so I'm going to tell you what happens over the next few weeks. The Seme classes start making cards with requests written on them. And over the next few weeks they give them out to all the people they like most. The point of this Holiday is for those who wish to find love, to spend time together outside of school.

Ukeshu is the week of the Uke, roughly translated. It means that you have the choice to accept any of these invitations or not. If you don't, you have a week off where you have to stay on campus or work, but if you do choose to accept, then the Seme of your choice will take you to spend the next five days at their house. Basically, you're the guests and they pamper you, take you places you wish to go, and do a bunch of cute silly things that couples do.

When we start getting letters I'll hand them out to all of you at the beginning of each morning meeting, and at the beginning of our end of day meetings."

Gaara knew he was going to spend the next few night studying up on all of this and talking to Haku and Naruto about it.

"Also, I want to briefly go over the other main events later in the year as reminders. Right before summer break, we have the showcase. How many of you know what that is?"

A few people raised there hands.

"Good. But since most of you don't, I'll explain. The showcase is where everyone gets together and invites their parents to what you might call, a school festival. It lasts for a few days and on each day something new happens. The clubs will be doing some sort of display or show the first day and the next few days will be spent on class performances and parent meetings.

Then parents will give you request letters and sign up to meet with you if they want to offer you jobs in their companies, or if they want you to marry one of their children. It's basically a fair to prove your better than everyone else and to be picked. Again though, you get to choose who you meet with.

And then when summer comes around, if any of the parents or family asked you, you may end up spending the summer with them at their estate."

Gaara sat there, listening intently.

"The last and final thing is graduation. I know most of you think that won't come for awhile, but remember, most of you won't be back next year because you'll be asked for your hand in marriage, which is the main way of graduating from this school.

Aishiteru Academy will throw big parties for those not coming back and unless you plan on waiting until you turn twenty-two, that's going to apply to most if not all of you. I'm supposed to teach you that you want to try and marry into a good family as soon as possible. But I won't.

I want all of you to do what you want and not what the school advises when it comes to graduating. Don't rush and be happy. Alright! Enough of my lecturing. I'm letting you boys head home early."

Everyone happily picked up there things and left. Gaara couldn't wait to talk about all this with his friends. As nerve racking and weird as all these things had sounded, the redhead was almost looking forward to them and he wanted his friend's opinions.

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Here is chapter 3 of Aishiteru... Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Also, I'm going to be starting College soon so I might be busy... I'm not sure how busy... but it might take me longer to update, just so you know...


	4. Chapter 4

**The Chronicles of Aishiteru Academy**

**-Book 1, Chapter 4-**

Pairings: GaaraXNeji, NarutoXSasuke, HakuXZabuza

_Note: I know some of you don't like how I write the pairings at the top, thank you for telling me that the seme's come first, but I'm not going to change it around. And yes… some of the characters are going to be O.O.C at times… so expect it and don't complain._

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Sasuke had not been looking forward to this day. Today, volunteer programs were finally starting and he was going to have to spend most of his day at the orphanage taking care of homeless kids. Not that he had anything against them, it just sounded more like babysitting than anything else. Neji and Zabuza didn't seem to be seeing things his way though. It was a little too easy to tell.

Neji had been bent on getting that new little redhead to like him and had been spending almost every free moment he had, planning things he could do. Sasuke didn't see the use in this. That boy seemed to hate him even more each time they talked.

Zabuza was just confusing as hell.

The boy had been entered into Aishiteru Academy for the soul purpose of training and becoming the best martial artist he could. So why he was suddenly spending more time looking around for a certain little raven, was beyond Sasuke's understanding. The Uchiha had his theories about these suddenly obvious couples.

If Gaara and Neji were to somehow end up together, the Hyuuga would be a miserable slave and he definitely wouldn't be the one wearing the pants. The redhead already had him knotted around all of his fingers. Sex between the two of them would most likely be violent and scary as hell. Sasuke didn't even want to think about the two of them becoming parents.

Then there was Zabuza and Haku. As cute as they were together, the two of them would pass out and die from blushing so much if Zabuza ever tried to ask the other boy to marry him. Sex between those two would be a feat in and of itself. Zabuza was twice Haku's size in every way and he'd probably smash or break the boy in some way.

Sasuke shook himself out of his thoughts and shoved everything into his bag as he made his way out to the volunteer busses. Life had taken three very strange turns this year.

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Obligations

_Students from upper class families may be required to volunteer and participate in school or community service. It would be best to speak to your families to see what they think would be appropriate. Community service and volunteering go a long way in impressing society and your future in-laws so doing as much as you can would be beneficial._

Gaara rolled his eyes and closed his handbook. These people were just plain crazy. Who would honestly write something like that in a book published for others to use? And for school no less. It did help explain the presence of all the extra snobbishness on the bus though. Every popular kid that Gaara had had the misfortune of going to school with, was on the volunteer bus, and as the bus made stops at each of the volunteer sites, Gaara noticed that the three he wanted gone, weren't leaving. The Hyuuga, Uchiha, and Momochi just stayed where they were in the back, surrounded by their slowly disappearing fan club.

When Gaara was finally pulled off the bus by an impatient Naruto, the three stood up and followed them. It was like a nightmare, especially since Gaara's oh so special friend Ino and her strawberry Popsicle companion followed right behind them. Wonderful. The redhead was already starting to dread all of this.

"My, my. If it isn't the triplets."

Gaara cringed inwardly and felt, rather than heard, Naruto growl beside him. Whoever said nuns were good and sweet had failed to mention the majority of them. These ones were particularly nasty.

They seemed to match the building too. The Griffith Orphan House was a tall, gothic like building with aged stone fountains and an over growth of ivy. Boring grey brick made up the outside and spiny black framed windows stood out like spiders on the front of the building. A few of them even had bars over them. One of those rooms had been Gaara's once, and he knew for a fact that they were especially cringe worthy. You had to be a bad kid or a convict to get one of those rooms. Gaara averted his eyes and made an effort to pay attention to the talking nun at the front of their small group.

"You two, Pink thing and blond banana, go to the kitchens. Girls belong cleaning or cooking, that's all their good for. Oh, and that reminds me. I want you cleaning the bathrooms and folding all the laundry Cinderella."

Gaara watched Sakura and Ino get dragged off to the kitchens, Haku hissing quietly in anger before disappearing to one of the nearby utility closets. Haku had been the boy that had been made to do everything, back when they lived here, so the nun's had referred to him as Cinderella. They probably didn't remember any of the kids' actual names anymore because they kept making up new ones.

"And you big boy, things need moving in the attic and the roof needs repairing."

Gaara could see Zabuza visibly twitch before Haku showed up with his arms full of buckets, rags, brooms and a hammer. Zabuza didn't even pause in taking most of this from Haku before they walked off down the hall together.

A few others were ordered off before only Naruto, Gaara, Neji, and Sasuke were left. This did not bode well.

"So your all that's left then."

The nun from hell put her finger to her chin as if she was actually thinking about where to put them.

"Alright emo boy, you can clean the fountains and Goldilocks can trim the roses. I believe the scum is back and the thorns have grown absolutely wild. Fix them."

Naruto growled again and dragged a miffed looking Sasuke off with him. Gaara knew that when the nun said scum, she meant the weird amoeba that somehow manifested itself every summer, and by thorns, she meant exactly that. Thorns. Roses hadn't actually grown on those vines in years. Gaara didn't envy those two, but he did manage to put on a really dirty look before the nun turned her leering face to him.

"That's right Robin Hood, you know the drill. You're washing sheets today. Take Rapunzel with you and show him how to beat the rugs."

"Fuck you."

"Do you really want an extra 6 months on that parole of yours for harassment and rape? I can certainly line that up for you if your serious about it."

Gaara didn't say anything as the women left, he just stood with his arms folded, wishing he had a blow gun with a few poison needles. Shooting a nun was said to get you struck by lightning, but hell would it be worth it to see those bitches fall. Gaara pulled a stunned Hyuuga behind him as he stalked down the hall and out the back of the building to where all the rugs and sheets were in piles waiting for them.

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Naruto was up to his elbows in paper thin cuts and snarled vines. The nuns had a way of picking out everyone's least favorite task and torturing them with it. It didn't help that the entire time they were working, he could hear the Uchiha complaining in the background. Eventually it got so annoying that he turned around and stalked over to the other boy with his hands clenched into fists.

"Would you just shut up!"

"No."

"Your such a pain in the ass! Why don't you just leave if you hate it here so much?"

"I'm working."

"No, Your complaining!"

Naruto watched the older boy sigh and pull himself out of the fountain, bare feet stepping lightly onto the dirty stone walkway. Sasuke's school jacket had been thrown aside and both his pants and sleeves had been rolled up. Naruto had to admit that the boy looked good when he wasn't dressed like a git. Even his tie had been tossed aside so that the first few buttons on the boy's shirt could be undone.

"I'll be quiet if you let me trim the roses."

The blonde stared at him momentarily before handing over the rusted clippers. Was this guy serious? Who would honestly want to trim roses that tried to bleed you to death? Sasuke didn't seem to care though and took the clippers from Naruto, moving over to the bushes without saying anything, much to the blonde's surprise.

That left Naruto the job of cleaning the fountain.

It wasn't the greatest job, but since it beat what he had been doing, he decided not to complain about it. He considered himself rather lucky. After the initial sting of the water on his fresh wounds, Naruto got to work. Even though they had switched jobs to what they were obviously much better at, Naruto wasn't going to let the Uchiha beat him. He may not be able to do the roses like the other boy, but he could still do a better job on the fountain.

He would not be beaten at something as mundane as cleaning.

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Haku groaned and stood up, stretching himself out from where he'd been bent over cleaning the grime out of one of the toilets. It was going to take him many more trips to this place before he had everything done that was supposed to be done, it just made him even more glad that this place was one of the smaller orphanages in the city. Haku hadn't actually wanted to come back here any time soon, but seeing as the nuns were the ones who gave him his new chance at a good school, he felt obligated to help them. The nuns here were nothing but nasty to him and often had made fun of him for looking and sounding like such a girl. He'd never had any friends in this place to help him get through it all either. He hadn't met Naruto and Gaara until he'd been sent to Aishiteru Academy and been put in the same classes with them.

In a way, checking himself into an orphanage after his parent's death had been one of the worst and best things he'd ever done. It was still better than the weeks he'd spent living on his own in alleys and under bridges.

He was finally getting to meet new people, make friends, and even possibly start dating.

Zabuza hadn't exactly asked him out or anything but even a blind man could see that the two of them liked each other. When they weren't around their friends, they'd often talk to each other about everything going on and Haku had been bringing the older boy bits of everything he made in cooking class or showing him all the drawings he'd done in art. The boy was so supportive of him it was crazy.

Lately though, things had been getting much less innocent. Haku couldn't help but feel a little worried about it. Just an hour or so ago, he'd surprised himself by kissing Zabuza on the cheek before he left to go fix the roof. The boy had helped him carry all the buckets and things to the bathroom so it had only seemed fair, but that wasn't the only thing that had been happening more and more often lately. The older boy had been showing up at Haku's dorm early every few mornings, when he knew only Haku would be up, bringing him flowers for the vase on their kitchen table. Somehow, he always knew when the previous flowers were wilting.

It was the simple things like this that were making Haku nervous.

He knew well enough that Gaara wasn't a fan of "the three" and would not be happy with Haku's choice of a boyfriend. And as oblivious as Naruto was, the boy was obviously starting to notice just how often Haku showed up to their gym class with food that wasn't for him.

He didn't want to make them angry, but Zabuza wasn't a bad guy. No one had ever been such a gentleman to Haku before and he didn't see anything wrong with liking it. He'd just have to be careful and make sure his friends didn't find out. He didn't think Zabuza's friends would like the idea of them together all that much either. Not to mention the boy's family.

Haku frowned a little to himself before picking up a broom and getting to work on the floor, letting his thoughts get the better of him.

----------

Gaara was sick of the way Neji kept staring at him. The redhead couldn't prove anything but he knew that the Hyuuga was watching him. It was one of those gut feeling sort of things. The boy would drag rug after rug out of the pile by his feet and beat as much dust and other shit off of them as he could before dragging it back into the building.

The redhead had tried to convince himself that he didn't care, and so was in denial of the fact that he had indeed been watching the other boy.

All the laundry in the world couldn't distract Gaara when he was bored. And scrubbing sheets in a hot tub of water then hanging them up to dry on a clothes line was definitely boring. His hands were red from having to hold the disgusting sheets down in hot water and he knew they were probably wrinkled too. He wasn't even about to start thinking about the stains he was trying to scrub out either. Lord only knew what was truly on them.

Sighing in irritation, Gaara hung up one last sheet before the bells inside the orphanage rang, signaling that they were allowed to finish up and head home.

"You'll be finishing those when you come back Robin Hood so don't get so excited."

Gaara cringed, practically shooing the annoying nun out of his way as he headed back down the hall and out the front toward the bus, Neji walking right behind him. He noticed three very distinct things then. The first was that Haku was coming out of a nearby storage closet. This wouldn't have meant anything except that he was being a good boy and cleaning up after himself. Only instead the tall creepy guy, Zabuza, came out right after him and the two of them were obliviously holding hands. That blatant show of affection made Gaara's temper twitch a little.

The second thing that got him a little pissed off was that Naruto was walking a few feet ahead of them talking to the Uchiha. This would have been funny at any other time. However the blonde was only half dressed, the bottoms of his pants soaked and rolled up. The Uchiha seemed to be enjoying this fact about Naruto's state of undress from what Gaara could see. And the blonde was even holding the other boy's jacket, not a clue in the world.

His friends knew damn well that Gaara didn't like these boys, so why they were suddenly acting all cute with them was beyond the redhead's understanding. It didn't make him the least bit happy.

When they got on the bus the third thing hit Gaara. He tripped on one of the steps going up and was caught by none other than Neji Hyuuga, Gaara's personal shadow.

The boy touching him was bad, but the fact that the only thought passing through Gaara's mind was about how strong the boy's arms were with the muscles flexed beneath them, was worse.

The redhead sat next to some loud black haired kid, making sure his friends left him alone.

This was yet another mistake.

When Gaara sat down he immediately had an arm over his shoulders and a pair of round eyes staring him right in the face.

"You're that orphan the Hyuuga got put on parole aren't you? My dad works down at the jail and my mom works with juvenile delinquents. They told me all about you. Said you were going to school with me and that I should let you know your brother's doing just fine. We should be friends! Hey! Aren't you and those other two from this orphanage? Wow I didn't even realize that until just now…"

The boy kept going, but everyone else on the bus was dead silent. Listening.

"Lee, shut up."

Gaara glanced over to see Neji glaring at the boy from two seats back.

"That's none of your business. You shouldn't be blurting things out like that."

"But Nej! We were just having a conversation."

"One that the whole bus could hear. Lee, didn't Kakashi-sensei tell you to watch your mouth when you talk to people? Your not supposed to talk about such personal things."

Gaara didn't care if the Hyuuga was whispering. Right about now he wanted to deck both boys and jump off the bus. Everyone was watching both of them and staring in shock at he, Naruto, and Haku. The last thing they needed was people teasing them because they weren't rich assholes like everyone else. Gaara could already see the smug sneer on Ino's face from the back of the bus.

"So your orphans are you? Poor sweet darlings! How hard that must be."

Gaara did jump off the bus then, and right behind him were Naruto and Haku. The three of them ran out of the bus faster than the driver was expecting because he'd barely gotten the doors open to let them all off. Gaara had completely forgotten what he was previously angry about. He was furious.

Because of Lee and Neji, Gaara and his friends were going to be mocked for the rest of the year.

Ino seemed to already be planning all the ways she could make Gaara's life miserable with the little secret she'd just learned. And if the laughter was any indication, the pink pansy was going to be joining her in said mocking as well.

------------

Haku was glad the volunteering had been scheduled at the end of the day. It was pretty obvious that the three of them wouldn't have been able to go back to classes right away. Gaara was fuming, ranting about how much he hated the academy and all the assholes in it, Naruto was sitting in one of the armchairs in the front room looking lost while the redhead paced back and forth, and Haku was just barely realizing how bad things could get. He was already teased for a million other things, but he'd never been laughed at for not having parents before. Usually people were really nice about it and avoided saying anything.

Obviously that wasn't the case with rich people.

According to Gaara they thought they were gods and better then everyone else. They would look for weaknesses in people and exploit them just so no one would ever be brave enough to stand up against them. Haku hadn't wanted to believe him.

Zabuza probably wasn't going to talk to him now.

That was the only thing that seemed to be bothering him the most right now. The boy was probably thanking god he hadn't gotten to attached to Haku in those few weeks they'd known each other.

Naruto was finally getting it now too. Between Gaara ranting and Haku looking upset, he'd picked up on the gist of what was happening. They were going to be teased, mocked, used, and hurt because Lee had spoken too loudly. Naruto didn't really have a certain person he was worried about like Haku did, he was more worried that because they were out as poor orphans, people would be lining up to get with them out of charity. Something these people thought looked really good for their image.

Naruto had been orphaned years longer than either of his two friends, so it didn't hurt him all that much anymore, but pity was still a bitch.

The blonde had sort of been hoping that someone would end up liking him for who he was, but since the people on the bus had found out, news about them would probably spread like wild fire. That little wish could be kissed goodbye now.

Standing up, Naruto turned on the TV and pushed Gaara down on the couch next to Haku.

"Worrying about this isn't going to help. Lets just watch TV and eat popcorn or something. That's always worked before."

Haku smiled and got up to go make popcorn in the kitchen.

"It'll be hard, but we'll just have to ignore them like we've always done. They can't do more than call us names, so long as we're careful about never running into them outside of school property."

"Why is it that you're the only truly logical one when there's a crisis Naruto?"

"You can't be the strongest all the time Gaara. And when your not, it's my turn to look after the two of you."

"Spoken like a true and caring friend. Popcorns ready."

Both Gaara and Naruto smiled a little as Haku sat down between them and held the bowl for all of them to dig out of. So long as the three of them stuck together, they'd be okay. They all knew that eventually, this would all blow over anyway.

* * *

This is the end of the first book I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update... but I am trying so don't worry... I'm not giving up...

Look forward to -The Chronicles of Aishiteru Academy, Book 2- ... coming as soon as I get it written... it'll be a (HakuXZabuza) story...

Let me know what you thought of the first book... and if any of you have ideas for a play you want them to perform at the end of the year... I'd love to hear it...


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